EP 58: Skid Row homeless man, Keith

I first met my guest, Keith, on 7th Street in downtown LA at about 10:00PM on Tuesday, January 27th, 2015. We were just blocks from his “home” on Skid Row.

As Keith walked past me, he asked me for money to buy a beer. I’ve always wanted to interview a homeless person right off the street, so I asked if he would like to immediately be a guest on my show. (The studio was around the corner on Olive.) He agreed and within minutes he was sitting across from me with headphones on, sharing his life story.

This bearded, gray, weathered, and frail looking older man who entered the studio as a mysterious stranger… left an hour later as a special friend. I will forever be grateful to Keith for opening up his heart to me (and to all of you), and for sharing his very human challenges and strengths.

In addition to Keith providing an invaluable, inside look at what it’s really like to live for years on the street, he also vulnerably exposes the addiction and trauma that likely led him there. Like peeling away the layers of an onion, as our conversation unfolds, Keith reveals the tragic complexities and contradictions of his thinking… while also peppering our talk with surprising, sage-like insights.

I never did buy Keith a beer. But he did leave with a pocketful of cash and hopefully with the same love in his heart that I still have in mine for him.